Monday, May 15, 2017

As many of you know, I'm on a Virginia Search and Rescue team and am training as a man tracker. One of the fabulous people that I've met during my time there is a Search Manager, named Mary Beth, whose job is to map. Maps are a problem, a BIG problem when we're on a search. Most of the US maps with contour lines (so we know where the cliffs are), called topographical maps, were developed in the mid-twentieth century. Things have changed a bit. Whole cities now take up spaces where my map tells me there is forestation.Enter GPS information and satellites. We use a combination of the two to try to find our missing person. As you might imagine, my friend Mary Beth is stellar at this because she manipulates GIS information every day for her day-job. Geographic Information System, GIS, is "designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present spatial or geographic data." (1)I was so interested in this topic that I was doing some reseach, and I learned that all kinds of jobs depend on this information - the military, government, farmers, NASA and archaeologists. Yes, archaeologists! Archaeologists can develop the coloration that is produced by the GIS system, and they can tell where a "tell" is located. A tell in this case being an area that has been built up by a civilization and then covered up by earth over time.

I used this information to start my research for my book RELIC, where two space archaeologists (archaeologists who use GIS to find dig sites) pit their expertise against ISIS who is unearthing and selling relics on the black market to fund terror. Another group who uses the satellite imaging information are animal migration scientists and those who are working to stop the extinction of many beloved species. Jane Goodall Institute, for example was able to show images of forestation several years ago and then newer images of the area to tribespeople so they could see the changes in the landscape. There was a massive deforestation area. The tribes were destroying the chimpanzees habitat. Armed with the information shown in the pictures, the tribes developed new policies and already they are seeing the brown and barren areas returning to green. This not only helps the animals in the area but also the people.

In DEADLOCK, available now for pre-order, animal migration specialist Dr. Meg Finley is using GIS imaging to help her help the tribes in Tanzania. Unfortunately, while Meg and her fellow scientists are trying to bring peace and prosperity, there are those who want to make sure things remain turbulent. In both of these novels, Iniquus special ops are on the scene and adding their areas of expertise to that of the scientists to try to stop those whose aim is death and destruction.